Top 11 Legal Research Considerations

How practitioners conduct legal research has undergone rapid changes. This is due to many factors. But in particular it’s because of:

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·?????? the increasing complexity and interlinking of legislation;

• the significant rise in the published ‘output’ of courts and tribunals, which have themselves increased in number;
• the emergence of ‘tertiary legislation’ (policies and guidance documents that have the effect of law in certain fields) has emerged in specialist (and often lucrative) practice areas;
• a greater volume of, and reliance on, academic publications (articles and monographs); and
• the ‘internationalisation' of law, with greater reliance on the jurisprudence of international and foreign fora even in 'domestic' matters.

The profession is also experiencing change to the introduction of large language models (LLM – think ChatGPT). AI in particular will transforming how legal practices are run, how professional skills are developed, how legal services will be delivered and by whom (and whether) legal research will be conducted.

Our Head of Content has investigated the status quo and found that there are 11 main considerations a legal researcher needs to have in mind when practising today.

1. Trusted source: peer usage

Lawyers generally require reassurance that their decisions conform with the standards and practices of peers. That will also be true of their choice of legal research platform. The main question will be: do well-regarded lawyers and law firms use this legal research platform?

2. Coverage: wide, deep and current

The Australian lawyer requires as a minimum that the legal research platform he or she relies upon has both width and depth.

There must be no Australian jurisdiction (federal, State or Territory) that is not comprehensively covered ('horizontal coverage'). Similarly there must be 'vertical coverage', comprising:

• the judgments of all courts (appellate-level fora to specialist first-instance courts) within a jurisdiction;
• the decisions of all tribunals, commissions and other quasi-judicial bodies (such as the Ombudsmen);
• all available primary legislation, secondary legislation and in particular fields tertiary legislation.

Case law and legislation must, of course, be up to date. ‘Depth’ of coverage also requires that legislation be searchable in a point-in-time viewer so users can find what they need with convenience.

3. Easy to Use

The legal research service should be simple and straightforward to use. Put simply, the ‘search’ should be taken out of 'research’. The service should be helpful by design.

4. Secondary sources: academic and specialist commentary

To assist users to identify the latest trends in cases, legislation and professional practice, legal research services should also include:

• peer-curated legislation and case law collections;
• specialist commentary authored by experts in particular practice areas;
• an aggregator that categorises news, blog and law firm publications by topic.

Where possible, links to academic law journals (both 'paywalled' and open-access) should be given.

5. Search functionality and advanced research tools

Efficient search functionality, including natural language processing and Boolean search capabilities, is crucial for navigating vast databases.

Advanced research tools, such as case citators, annotation features, and legal analytics, can significantly enhance research efficiency and insights.

6. User interface, accessibility and incorporation into users' workflows

The platform's user interface should be intuitive, user-friendly, and accessible on various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Ease of navigation and the ability to customise the interface can improve user experience and productivity.vThe legal research service (and products connected to that service) should take a user from his or her first search for relevant cases to the perfecting of final submissions. For each stage of a matter, tools that will assist practitioners to commence, consolidate, craft and curate their legal research are vital. ?

7. Customisation, personalisation and collaborative features

Vital to good lawyering is staying on top of the latest developments.? Legal research services must keep users alert to, rather than alarmed by, all that is new in legislation and case law.?

Alerts sent directly to individual’s or firm’s inboxes, RSS feeds, ‘new in’ features (by jurisdiction, court and practice area) on the service’s website and social-media updates should all form part of the research platform’s offering to users.

8. Cost and subscription models

It goes without saying that legal research should not be cost prohibitive. It is an issue of equity and access to the legal system that all lawyers should be able to afford to do solid research for their clients.

9. Quality of customer support and training

Like any service, quality customer support is important. If that support can be local, all the better! Support should come in the forms of help desks, training, and online tutorials. ?

10. Compliance and security

Australian law firms are increasingly at risk of security breaches. Positive privacy obligations and notification obligations mean that the repetitional damage caused by the loss of sensitive of confidential material can have serious regulatory consequences for legal practices and individual lawyers. Legal research services must guard their users' security and ensure that the platform does not become a ‘route’ into a law firm’s privileged, confidential, private and commercially sensitive information.

11. Innovation and future proofing

As mentioned, research is changing quickly. And legal research providers need to keep up with these changes so their customers have the best technology available to assist. Selecting a platform that demonstrates a commitment to innovation and regularly updates its offerings to incorporate the latest technology trends, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, ensures that users remain at the cutting edge of legal research.

Are there any others you would add to the list?